Grown men stand next to the candy apple red 1963 Chevy Impala and cry. The classic car at Cobo Center this weekend is a perfectly preserved memory.

It reminds men of stories of their mothers and fathers behind the wheel, and what it felt like to be a little boy in a big car. They tell of drag racing as teenagers in small-town America. They remember parents who worried about the speed and power a muscle car delivered.

The two-door hardtop sits in Hall C at the Detroit Autorama through Sunday.

“This is like something out of a time machine," said McKeel Hagerty, CEO of the largest classic car insurer in the world, based in Traverse City.

Incredibly, the Impala's odometer reads just 11.5 miles.

Kept indoors at an abandoned car dealership in Pierce, Neb., for 50 years, the vehicle attracts those who have seen its story on the History Channel.

Posted!

A link has been posted to your Facebook feed.

Buy Photo

This 1963 Chevrolet Impala sat in the Lambrecht Chevrolet dealership in Nebraska for 50 years before being bought by brothers Gary and Dave Leidich of Ohio. It has 11.5 miles on the odometer. It is photographed at Detroit Autorama at Cobo Center in Detroit on Friday, March 2, 2018. Kimberly P. Mitchell, Detroit Free Press

Gary Leidich, 67, of Peninsula, Ohio, said he and his brother Dave planned to buy car parts at a 2013 auction and ended up winning a $97,000 bid. To men sound like they love the story behind the car as much as the car itself. Kimberly P. Mitchell, Detroit Free Press

The odometer reads just 11.5 miles when the brothers bought it. Since then, the brothers have added just half a mile to the odometer, pulling the car onto the trailer. They run the engine once in awhile. Kimberly P. Mitchell, Detroit Free Press

They listen to Gary and Dave, point to the original paperwork under glass and note an original sticker price of $3,254.70. No touch-up paint has been applied. Brake cylinders and radiator have been repaired. Kimberly P. Mitchell, Detroit Free Press

Gary Leidich, 67, of Peninsula, Ohio, said he and his brother Dave planned to buy car parts at a 2013 auction and ended up winning the Impala with a $97,000 bid.

Among car collectors, Ray and Mildred Lambrecht are legend. After World War II, they opened the Nebraska dealership and ran it for half a century. They accepted trade-ins, but sold only new cars.

They stored some 500 cars in the back lot, which doesn't seem like such a big deal in parts of Nebraska. When the dealership shuttered in 1996, the family closed the building with a few dozen vehicles inside, including the '63 Impala.

Family members finally convinced the couple, each in their 90s, to auction the cars. Buyers and onlookers came. And so did the international media.

Gary Leidich bid by phone. His brother was in Nebraska, watching in disbelief.

"It was very emotional," said Dave Leidich, 70, a retired highway safety officer. "We were the dog that caught the car. What did we do? We hauled it back on an open trailer as best we could back to Ohio."

Since then, the brothers have added just half a mile to the odometer, pulling the car onto the trailer. They run the engine once in awhile.

"One day, we'll give this car to a museum, but not yet," said Gary Leidich, a retired utility executive. "Now we're just having fun."

Buy Photo

The crows listen to Gary and Dave, point to the original paperwork under glass and note an original sticker price of $3,254.70. No touch-up paint has been applied. Brake cylinders and radiator have been repaired.(Photo: Kimberly P. Mitchell, Detroit Free Press)

Men and women gathered around the Impala on Friday, quietly whispering and pointing. Bill Wood, 59, a drywall contractor from Aurora, Ontario, circled the car he knew from the auction, which was shown on the History Channel. "It's friggin' awesome."

Gary Webb,16, of Saginaw said he loves "fast and furious cars, the new-school muscle cars."

But he appreciates how old cars are designed. "They took more time and added more detail than with the cars today. I don't think 30 years from now we'll be showing the 2018 cars."

John Yakich, 17, of Bay City said he likes being from the Motor City. "It's cool hearing stories and seeing people get excited."

Jacob Krawczyk, 36, a car designer from Eaton, walked slowly around the Impala taking note of the fit and finish. "The aesthetics were better then."

At the Chevy Impala display, surrounded by hundreds of hot rods and classic cars, onlookers leaf through books and memorabilia about the '63 Impala. They listen to Gary and Dave, point to the original paperwork under glass and note an original sticker price of $3,254.70. No touch-up paint has been applied. Brake cylinders and radiator have been repaired.

The guys share the story of going back to the GM Assembly Plant in Janesville, Wis., to meet the factory workers after buying the car.

"They built 55 cars an hour, all by hand," Gary Leidich said. "So our radiator cap is the wrong cap. It has a truck cap. You know what one of the retired guys told us? They viewed the assembly manual as a guideline. They'd say, 'Hey, Charlie! I need a cap.' And they'd throw a buddy whatever cap they had.'"

Buy Photo

The vehicle was built Aug. 6,1963. It was a Saturday.(Photo: Kimberly P. Mitchell, Detroit Free Press)

The vehicle was built Aug. 6,1963. It was a Saturday.

"They worked two shifts back then," Gary recalls. "We met these guys, they looked at each other, and said, 'One of us put fenders on this car.'"

In the years since, the plant closed.

Tony Grace, 32, a tire man from Alma, walked past the Impala and paused. He said people used to have a strong personal relationships with cars, and that's gone.

"Our lives have changed," he said. "Now, to get somewhere in the car interrupts your life. Life used to be about the journey rather than the destination. Now you can't get to the destination fast enough."